Summer is for reading, birdwatching, swimming and golf

By Darla Buckhannon

Happy birthday to Gerald Beck, Scott Barnhart, Andrea Horman, Deidra Coleson, Lisa Stagoski, Bill Hawkins, Richie Swain, Veronica Bennett, Don Seyer, Debbie Graviett, Janice Eftink, Jamie Keller, Dean Smith, Roggie Reece, Colin Phillips, Lynn Felton, Linda Kidd, Maxine Scott, Andy Wilhite, Esten Cooper, Candi Hargrove and Nathan McIntosh.

Happy anniversary to Lester and Pam Eichhorn, Jack and Sue Wessel, Jon and Tonyua Townsend, Charles and Sara Hemingway, David and Leslie Herbst and David and Dayneen Glastetter.

City announcements

The city reminds people to renew UTV/ATV and golf cart permits. The second installment for the sewer rate increase is on this month's usage bill which will be due Aug. 10.

There will be no more recycling available until further notice.

Summer reading

What are you reading this summer? The Chaffee Public Library is hosting Summer Reading on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Call the library at (573) 887-3298 for information.

Bird sightings

The hummingbirds are active but one bird we have plenty of is the house finch. The sparrow-sized bird was introduced in Oahu in 1870 and by 1901, had spread to every Hawaiian island. They were introduced in New York in 1940 when illegal caged birds were released and soon populated every U.S. state. I saw my first house finch in Dallas when a male with its red head and breast was hanging out with sparrows. Their nests are a neat open cup of woven twigs and they lay four to five eggs. Oftentimes they will produce three broods a year which explains why there are so many of them!

Chamber of Commerce to meet

The Chamber of Commerce meets the second Wednesday of the month at noon. The next meeting is June 13 at First Commercial Bank and sponsored by S&W Cabinets and Rice Insurance. Jerry Howard was guest speaker at the last meeting. He is a Democratic candidate for State Representative for the 151st District.

Former guest speakers include Democrat Scott Horman who is running for re-election as Judge for the 5th Division of Scott County and Republican Amanda Oesch who is running for Scott County Prosecuting Attorney.

The Chamber continues its membership drive. Dues are $15 for individuals and $35 and up for businesses.

Pool memories

Mentioning the opening of the pool at Harmon Field brought back memories for many. Mark Hopkins said his first year swimming in the pool was 1947. The entry fee was 10 cents but the real value was a season ticket. One could swim anytime from June to the end of August for $3. Mark said he is pretty certain he never missed a day that summer in 1947. The hours were 1-4 and 6:30-10. Not certain who ran the pool at the time but Charlie Allen, the fire and water man, was the administrative boss in those days. Despite the long lines, Mrs. Allen didn't let anyone in until the exact opening time. Do you remember those adorned swim caps, the wire baskets they gave us to put our towels and shoes in and the wringers to squeeze the water out of our suits?

It was exciting to graduate from the baby pool and swim in the big pool. One was not allowed to do so until you showed the lifeguard you could swim to the rope and back.

The pool topic brought up past lifeguards. Those mentioned include Joe Perry Rice, Jr., Charles Hughes, Ralph Ward, Johnny Ryan, Joe Perry III, Mike Lilliker, Ronnie Cook, Ronnie Dobbs and Kathy Komis. Help add to our lifeguard names and memories.

Over the years Mark says he has heard several claims to have hit a baseball into the pool which would be one heck of a drive. He does remember Gary Glenzy hit one into the back lot of what was then the Willow Grove Roller Rink, dead center field in 1957. Gary was a junior first baseman on Chaffee's first state tournament team. We covered this in Chatters several years ago and I recall that both Doug Steimle and Jackie Paul Arnold were long hitters.

Golf tournament coming up

Mark your calendar for June 22 for the 11th Annual Golf Tournament hosted by the Chaffee Booster Club. It will be held at the Cape Jaycee Municipal Golf Course in Cape Girardeau. For information, call Tyson Moyers (887-3258), Dale Tenkhoff (887-1980) or Chris Knutson (382-3341).

Remember to tell those special people in your life you love them -- those three words mean so much.

Email you news and comments to me at darbuck2@airmail.net or leave a message at (573) 887-6430 or (214) 207-7839.

Then there was the drive-in church service.